This show marked the debut of Leprechaun, the Phish debut of Daniel Saw the Stone, and the debut of the a cappella Free Bird (the last “traditional” Free Bird was March 13, 1989, or 568 shows previous). Stash included a Little Drummer Boy jam. I Didn't Know featured Fish on the Madonna washboard.The Horse featured Trey on acoustic guitar and Faht featured Fish on acoustic guitar. The Possum intro contained a Wilson tease and quote. Sparks was teased in the soundcheck before Pungee.

Show Reviews

Summer Tour 1993 - one of the band's most transformational tours and one filled with highlights nearly every night. I'll try to showcase the high points, the 'low' points, and add some random facts/tidbits too.

THE GOOD: For those Meters fans, you should definitely take a listen to the sound-check, as the band plays Pungee for a solid 4 minutes. Take a listen to the Sample here, as it really smokes, more so than most versions from the time period. Foam, also in the first set, is worth a listen as the band follows a Page-led dynamic bit of splashing before Trey's solo takes off. The rare Leprechaun debuts here, and although not as well-played as the 7/17 version, is nice and leads into an fiery and chaotic Jim closer. In the second set, the Trey Acoustic-Horse is beautiful, as it is extended more than usual (to me the extension almost sounds like some acoustic Metheny from his work in the early 80's and One Quiet Night). This is also a fantastic version of Lizards, extremely fast-paced and lots of tense-staccato from Page. Of course, if you have never heard an a capella Freebird, it closes the encore and should be heard immediately.

THE BAD: Being an opening show, there are some tempo issues evident in Rift which really detracts from the performance. Bowie also has some missed cues. Faht, while a short-lived little number that would be an exciting surprise these days, doesn't translate that well to tape here. No extended jams that would occur later in August yet, but I don't know if that can be considered 'bad' particularly since at this point in time, a long extension wasn't common at all.

THE GEEKY: Of course, like most sound checks, this one has some interesting banter, a run through of Leprechaun, and an interesting poppy number with a few lyrics that never made it to the stage in full form (sounds like Fish or Mike singing). Listen for Wilson teases in the build-up to Possum. For the time, this show had a few breakouts, particularly MMGAMOIO and Faht, as well as debuts (Leprechaun, Daniel, and FreeBird. There's some banter after Divided Sky as well as during Daniel, where Trey mentions that he hopes that he'll see folks at the next few nights.

OVERALL: Hard not to give this show a 4 just from the extremely solid playing, the variety of the setlist, the novelty of several of the songs, and the solid encore choice. However, it lacks the 'hey'-jams that would occur later in the tour that would give it a 5-star rating. I'd give the sound quality on the spreadsheet a 7/10.

Due to Gilby Clarke falling off his motorcycle, breaking his arm, and (unbeknownst to many at the time) initiating what would become a seemingly interminable hiatus for Guns N Roses, I had traded in my Knickerbocker Arena Gunners ticket for a ticket to Phish (plus change"...both figuratively and literally) at the Cayuga County Fairgrounds.

The Weedsport show would be the first of an abnormally high percentage of tour opening shows I have attended, my third exposure to the band overall, and the first time I had actually gone to a show specifically to see Phish. We arrived in the lot from Syracuse right at show time, presuming there would be an opening band. On our walk toward the sawdust-covered race track we could hear a band playing. One of my friends inquired of a passing "wookie", "Hey man"...who is the opening band?". His slurred reply was the first of many lessons I have had in the school of Phish"..."Dude"...Phish opens for Phish!".

The memories I have of the show itself that were all so fresh and new at the time are now a faded tapestry of sights and sounds swirling away on the mid-summer breeze of Finger Lake wine country "...with one small exception. As the show drew to a close, I remember Trey asking, "Well"...what song is it y'all wanna hear?" "Freeeeeeebirrrrrrrrrd!" was my answer. "Freebird" I received. I was then, and am still, amused and amazed to the point of tears by the barbershop quartet rendition of this classic rock gem that Phish pulled out of their bag of tricks that night. It demonstrated to me on a first-hand level the magical interaction between band and crowd that occurs each time Phish hits the stage. I had known nothing else like it"...and doubt I ever will.

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